For 11 games, Sharks left wing Ryane Clowe was making an impact. Crashing the net. Banging bodies. Scoring goals. Getting in an opponent's face.

Now, he's playing a waiting game.

Waiting for the swelling in his surgically repaired right knee to subside. Waiting to begin rehab. Waiting - two months? four months? - until he can return to action.

"The first couple of days, it was tough mentally to deal with," said Clowe, who stayed behind Thursday when the team traveled to Anaheim for tonight's game. "Now I'm just focused on rehab and, when I do come back, that I'm ready to go."

The loss of Clowe hits the Sharks at a vulnerable position because they have only two other true left wings - Milan Michalek and Patrick Rissmiller. Forwards frequently change positions, however, and that's how the Sharks are surviving the situation.

Clowe tore two knee ligaments in the third period Oct. 27 in Columbus. It drew little attention at the time because it happened away from the puck.

"It was kind of an innocent play," said Clowe, 25. "I was forechecking on the defenseman - I think it was Ole-Kristian Tollefson - and he saw me coming. I was trying to finish the hit and he tried to protect himself and he stuck his rear end out."

The damage occurred, Clowe said, when his skate blade got caught in a rut just as his knee ran into Tollefson's rear end.

"The impact and force kind of stopped me right away," Clowe said. "I knew when the hit was finished that something was wrong.

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Clowe went directly to the bench, and after the next whistle he attempted to put a little pressure on his knee.

"I tried to skate, but I just couldn't do it," Clowe said.

Once the injury was diagnosed, it was Clowe's decision whether to undergo surgery.

"Maybe if I was on the last leg of my career, I could just play out the string and rehab the knee," he said, "but at this point, it was smart to get it fixed and put it behind me."

Team physician Arthur Ting performed the operation at his Fremont clinic, using Clowe's patella tendon to repair the ACL.

Clowe knows the timing of the injury isn't ideal. He was off to a strong start with three goals and three assists, and he was evolving into one of the team's tougher physical presences.

"I don't think it's ever a good time, but it's especially bad at the start of the season, when you're feeling your best," he said. "But I do feel I'm in really good hands."

A native of Newfoundland, Clowe plans to stay in San Jose while his knee heals rather than "go back to the rock to hibernate."

His teammates know they'll miss his contributions.

"He does it all - he's physical, he fights, he scores," center Joe Thornton said. "He gets in the dirty areas."

Once, hockey teams shunned injured players, worried that their misfortune would rub off on others. But the Sharks want Clowe around the practice rink and many of his teammates have offered to help him during his recovery.

"Maybe when they get home from this road trip, I'll call the guys for some home delivery," he joked.

But there's another hockey tradition when it comes to injuries.

"Life goes on," Thornton said. "Injuries are part of the game and when one key guy goes down, 20 guys have to pick it up for him."

Let Coach Ron Wilson put it more directly.

"That shouldn't have any effect on us," he said when asked about the impact of Clowe's loss. "That's a cheap excuse if that's what anybody says. He's an important player, but we have plenty of other people and it's an opportunity for others to step up."